Tim Barber

"I'm worried that assessments will cause high candidate drop-off." We hear this all the time when companies think about using pre-hire assessments instantly after application. However, here's a compelling stat: when one of our clients moved assessments to the top of the hiring funnel—right after the application—they saw a 150% improvement in candidate conversion! This demonstrates that integrating assessments early can enhance the candidate experience and streamline the hiring process. It's time to rethink our approach to pre-hire assessments and embrace their potential to efficiently identify the best talent. Read more about this on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eSfjwYEf #Recruitment #Hiring #TalentAcquisition #PreHireAssessments #HRTech #CandidateExperience

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If you want you and your team to be AI literate, talk to us. Here is the headline data from our immersion programme - The quantitative picture isn't bad either: Participants frequently mentioned feeling "massively benefited" and "inspired" by the programme. Common themes included increased confidence in using AI tools, enhanced analytical capabilities, and a better understanding of how to integrate AI into their work. We haven't just defined AI literacy, we figured out how to move the needle on it too :) #AIliteracy #responsibeAI

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🧡 Love what Appraisd are doing to shake up the way we manage performance nowadays! You can check out their latest podcast series here 👇

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💡 A free piece of advice for clients deciding on which recruiters to work with; look at how they write adverts/JDs. Adverts are what we recruiters call a "passive" talent acquisition strategy. In practice, this means they work in the background whilst you do "some real work", like meeting people, in real-life (*gasps*). When you're choosing a recruiter to work with, one of the simplest pieces of DD you can do, is look at how they write adverts or a job-description. Ultimately, good recruiters are likely going to be the first people to represent your business and selling is (and should be), what we're doing every day. Talking about adverts here, it might not have to be what is publicly available online in the traditional sense, it might also be what is sent as a follow-up to the candidate. I'd like to also make a distinction between regurgitated ChatGPT drivel and an advert written which you, as a client, would make you want to apply to your own company. I'd be willing to wager that most of you would not be compelled to apply to adverts at your own companies, because they read more like shopping-lists than being a "call to action". Some things this might show you: - Which recruiters truly understand what candidates care about. - Which firms speak plainly (if the word "foster" appears in any advert, this was written by ChatGPT). - Who can actually SELL an opportunity. - Whether or not a recruiter is worth the fees they charge. Hiring and want an original advert? Contact me below! 📩 warwick@durlstonpartners.com 📲 @cryptowarwick #DPDMCC

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We've launched a one-day workshop on Putting Purpose into Practice. Why? So much work goes into developing ambitious, meaningful organisational purpose and mission statements. But, these are never enough. Too often, words and actions are misaligned so the impact of purpose is limited. More than that, the cynical view that ‘purpose is just marketing’ grows. We are working with teams to help bridge the gap between intent and action. Our workshops are not about people blindly committing to an organisational purpose but rather, for each team (and individual) to focus on bringing alive the purpose in the work that they do. We’re blending reflection, connection, and action to maximise the impact of the sessions. Reach out to the TH team if you’d like to learn more. info@thompsonharrison.com https://lnkd.in/eifWV9ax

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Have you ever spent much time thinking 🤔 about the 💪🏽Power of Trust 🫱🏻‍🫲🏻at work? I spent an enjoyable 20 minutes talking 🗣️ to Tom Emery from HEX development on this very topic in the latest chat for our Face2Face series. The recording of our conversation is available on our Resource Hub for your enjoyment. It's all about having candid, open conversations that mean your team feel safe and confident in their work. Get in touch with Tom if you'd like more support in this area of team development. #poweroftrust #leadershipdevelopment #knowledgesharing

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🎙️ Check out the full episode of my talk with Mike Coffey, SPHR, SHRM-SCP ✅ for Good Morning, HR!

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For employee's trying to manage their own finances when it's seemingly never properly taught at school, it can be a big ask. The direct links between the burden on managing one's own salary and the knock-on mental health aspects can be huge. For an employer to support the Financial Wellbeing of a workforce can be giving in so many ways beyond the direct cost of a new benefit product. Lifelines are offered to people who need a listening ear, a sign post to somewhere that can help, discounts from the regular shopping bills.. whatever it is, it has huge connections with mental wellbeing... And great employers understand the link between great financial and mental wellbeing - and high performance in the organisation. Vivup most definitely understand both the employers and employee's needs! #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthawarenessweek #moneymanagement #budgetting #financialwellness

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ON REDUNDANCY – DO YOU TAKE THE OUTPLACEMENT SERVICES OR TAKE THE $$$??? I have spoken to many of you about this now. Most people do take the outplacement services, rather than the $ offered, which can usually only be used for approved study. Why? well, getting your resume in tip top shape as a first step is important: - It can bring a level of confidence back to what has often been a big blow to our sense of value & purpose in life. - Sometimes we haven’t looked at our resume for years, and don’t know where to start - We need to word our resumes so that the AI systems pick them up (more on that another day) As a 4x redundancy veteran I've gone through Outplacement services a number of times. The last time I took the $ to study for my Diploma of Positive Psychology. And I also got a government grant, so the Diploma didn’t cost me much at all. Best thing I ever learnt in Outplacement – Mind mapping Marion Langford, my Outplacement consultant at the time taught me this. - A life long skill I use for idea creation/brainstorming, and capturing a myriad of choices, sorting out my life. - It's all only a google away! - I prefer to do it on paper with my coloured pens, but there is software available now. Most have a ‘practical’ program, along the lines of resume writing, career & transition coaching, interview training, job search advice, optimising LinkedIn, networking etc. Sometimes you’re not firing at your best after a redundancy, and you need to be at your best to apply and get your next role above other candidates I needed wellness support for most of my redundancies – which is why I’m doing what I’m doing now. Another of my Outplacement experiences included:  - Mindfulness & meditation sessions  - How to build confidence and self-esteem again So you can ask about this type of support when you meet your consultant. The controversial bit.....going out on a limb here  - It seems there is a bit of ‘hit & miss’ going on, which can depend entirely on the consultant that you get. From “I never went back after our first meeting” to “I wouldn’t have got this job without the help of X”. So how do you make sure you have the right fit & expertise? - You drive the conversation. - You ask the questions about your resume. - You ask the questions about what happens with them when you finish your job. - What else do they offer? What if I take the money?  - Taking the money means using it for some learning. - Some people I’ve spoken to have trained themselves into Risk Management, which is a massive growth are. - Others use it to kick off Post Graduate study. One friend I know is doing a Masters in Leadership. What experiences have you had with outplacement companies?  What was the best thing that you got out of it?  Whatever you decide - above all - please take care of your health, happiness & wellbeing – it's your income resource. #Redundancy #Redundancysucks #Youonlygetonelife 

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Whilst working on GoPlugable we’ve often talked about our bootstrapping journey where we funded our first year of development almost exclusively through grants competitions and accelerator programs. And whilst we can’t win everything, with £150,000 of equity free funds raised in 10 months it’s fair to say we’ve had a pretty good run at it! I always recommend to startups to avail of the support out there and bootstrap for as long as you can, we’ve gotten support both locally and internationally and it definitely can be done. 💸 Part of what I love so much about being in the startup world is not only working on my own startup but also hearing what others are working on. I get quite a lot of messages from very early stage founders asking how we managed to build our platform and get it off the ground on bootstrapped funds - every founder I have the opportunity to help in some way has also taught me something. As always my inbox is open and I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have but I wanted to gauge interest for offering more in depth one hour calls to help you to be able to present your startup in the best way possible whether it be through an application programme, pitch deck, website or MVP. Things are always busy at GoPlugable so for a very small fee I can allocate more of my time to give this more in depth advice based on what you need help with most. So if interested please give me a dm 🙋🏻‍♀️ Things I can help with: 1. Writing application forms and how to speed this process up when applying for many things at a time (we have this down to a fine art at GoPlugable!). 2. Putting together pitch deck in 3 min, 5min and 10 min formats and what is needed for each. 3. Help with what is needed for an MVP/wireframe, advice around budgeting and can provide intros to developers/ web designers who can provide quality work at a startup friendly price. 4. Give you a heads up on what applications you should be applying for and update you on this via email. 5. Basics of financial projections modelling- particularly for B2C/marketplaces. 6. Go to market strategies, marketing and PR advice. Applications and programmes I have experience with: -QUB Dragons Den winner 2023 -QUest Programme participant and pitch winner -INVENT winner 2023 -Techstart 10K and 35K proof of concept grants -Invest NI from student to first sale grant -innovateUK -Catalyst Cofounders -Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Programme -Student Entrepreneur Awards -Santander X semi finalist -FIA mobility startup winner -Impact shakers urban impact pitch winner - and a lot more!

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Office attendance is being used in performance reviews at Addleshaw Goddard 🙄 This is yet another example of the wrong metric being focused on in order to drive better performance. There is an abundance of evidence that shows in-person time is beneficial for engagement, learning, happiness, problem solving, and strategising. But as a crude measure, it's useless. People can turn up to offices and do none of the activities that benefit their team or the company. I used to sit behind someone that watched cricket highlights for at least four hours a day, yet because he was there early and left late, everyone thought that he was a top performer. Blunt force to encourage office attendance won't work; as the best performers have far more bargaining power and are likely to demand more flexibility, and it's likely to create a culture of resentment and fear. A lot of people have no issue with going in three days per week, but using it as a performance measure is as daft as giving a first class degree to the people who attend 100% of their lectures. There are dozens of other, more powerful, metrics that would be more beneficial to measure: 💥 Client satisfaction 💥 Billable hours worked 💥 Cases won 💥 KPIs hit In order for us to make progress in our working environments, we need to stop thinking about crude inputs and think more holistically about outputs. Flexa #FlexibleWorking #RTO #ReturnToOffice

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Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with (directly & indirectly) as well as getting to know lots of products, platforms and services in the people tech space. Here are some I highly recommend and worth a follow or if you’d like a warm intro to owners, founders and senior leaders within each business, let me know: Rectec® - Rob Green helping organisations to make objective and informed decisions on which ATS is best for their brief. Horsefly - Will Crandle helping organisations make objective and informed talent acquisition and talent management decisions with live market data, analytics & insights. Hollaroo - Hugh Fordham helping organisations create engaged talent communities internally & externally. VirtualNonExecs.com - Ian Wright helping organisations engage NED, Board, Advisory and Chair level talent through a professional platform accessing 20k professionals & investors. First Advantage - Adam Rudd helping organisations create frameworks that deliver critical pre-employment screening and background checks. Phenom - Rob Jackson helping organisations deliver an AI & ML led experience that connects people, data and interactions throughout the talent journey. Adway - Kristin Molin helping organisations with AI led candidate nurturing and social recruiting. Sapia.ai - Matt Fahey helping organisations to screen & interview candidates through text chat (achieving 90% candidate satisfaction). Foresight - Danny Hodgson helping organisations with workforce planning & forecasting tools to get ahead of hiring demands by 3…6…9 months. ATS Recommendations Teamtailor Tribepad Talos360 Candidly Jobtrain Eploy iCIMS HRIS Recommendations HiBob BrightHR BambooHR Humaans Assessment Recommendations Sova Assessment Spotted Zebra Pre-Employment Screening & Background Checks Recommendations VETTING.com CV Check Limited

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Yet another increase in the UK “inactivity rate” (people not actively looking for work). It’s why the Better Hiring Charter was introduced We all need to do more to design jobs with humans in mind. The Better Hiring Institute are on a mission to make UK Hiring the fairest in the world. The reasons for inactivity roughly breaks down as: Sick 2.6m Student 2.4m Caring 1.6m Unemployed 1.4m Retired 1.1m Other 950k How can our modern world of work better support people with flexible needs back into work? Many of the 1.6m with caring responsibilities are women, some of whom want to work but find jobs to be too inflexible The Charter is made up of 10 broad principles for employers, each underlined by a session in Parliament with MPs and Peers Reed Screening are delighted to have been driving this change, pioneering the future of hiring is important to us as a family-owned UK business fully onshore, open 24/7/365 working 1 day a week for charity. #recruitment #hiring #careers https://lnkd.in/esBaY_AR

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If you've never invested in a career coach or paid for your own personal development, I really do get how financially investing in your career seems like a big commitment or an unaffordable luxury. That's one of the reasons that I'm going to love the Career Catalyst programme. You get practical advice and support in bite-sized chunks. You get the chance to implement changes and get feedback. You get to find out what it's like working with a career coach at a very affordable investment (£19 per month with no minimum commitment). And what do I get out of it? Firstly a whole heap of fun and joy. I love answering your career questions; I love sharing my knowledge and experience; I love creating fun and interactive workshops for the women I work with. Secondly I get to hear your career challenges and questions in person; which is a huge help to me when I'm developing career development programmes for charities and other organisations to run in-house. Thirdly some of you will love the Career Catalyst so much that you'll invest in paid one-to-one support. The Career Catalyst pre launch closes on Friday. Here's where you can sign up - but do it before Friday because the pre launch price goes up from £19 to £29 after that. https://lnkd.in/enbBnsxP

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💼We often hear about companies striving to be the best place to work, but what does it really take to achieve this lofty goal? 🤔Firstly, it's crucial to acknowledge biases that may exist in the workplace. Whether it's unconscious biases affecting hiring decisions or systemic biases impacting promotion opportunities, addressing these head-on is essential for growing a great culture that builds up its employees and paves the way for consistent success. Consider Patagonia as an example. On Glassdoor their overall rating of 4.3 out of 5, is derived from feedback provided by over 678 employees who chose to share their experiences anonymously. Overall, 83% of employees would recommend working at Patagonia. Employee review platforms offer insights into workplace experiences, but truly understanding a company's culture requires firsthand experience. As companies expand rapidly and grow very large, they often encounter hurdles like apathy, inadequate perks, insufficient leadership training, and misunderstandings. These challenges can erode project outcomes, company culture and diminish value. 🌼It is important to remember that building a great workplace goes beyond addressing biases. It's about creating a culture where the vision and strategy are clear and employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to do their best work. This means offering robust people and culture strategies that build up individuals and teams, provide peer support, mental health support, and professional development opportunities. Noone is perfect, and if the proverbial ball is dropped, employees want to rally behind a business that gives them a framework of values and shared beliefs, but it must be more than just lip service. 📄To test the internal temperature of an organisation, conduct a survey. While employee surveys can provide valuable insights into the employee experience, we must approach them with a critical eye. Are they truly capturing the reality of the workplace, or are they skewed by factors like fear of retaliation or pressure to provide positive feedback? It's essential to ensure transparency and anonymity in surveys to encourage honest responses. Companies should also take proactive steps to address any issues identified in these surveys rather than sweeping them under the rug. At the end of the day, being a great place to work isn't just about perks and benefits; it's about fostering a culture of trust, respect, and continuous improvement. If you are struggling with HR, people and culture and having problems with your team, check out our HR bundle for instant company culture improvement: https://lnkd.in/gVe76-9h #THELEADICON

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Staying front of mind is key for every business. I speak with investors daily and one thing really struck me last week. One investor mentioned that she receives regular (monthly or bi-monthly) updates from a founder that she spoke to several months ago. The founder updates on progress against the objectives and goals he outlined in his pitch. She didn’t invest following the pitch. The investor loves the updates, and it puts the founder in a better position (with this investor) when looking for more funding. However, this founder is very much the exception and not the rule. There were very few founders that keep this investor updated with regular communication. It’s difficult to stay front of mind with people in our ecosystem but it will only help when looking for help or generate business in the future. Investors – do you like to see regular updates from founders? And what do you like to see? #executivesearch #startup #scaleup

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